Disclaimer: Still don't own the Z-characters. Shani and Blaze the Star and Scepter and the Dragon Tear Necklace are mine though.
Notes: Yeah!!! The obnoxious drunk actually gets KO'ed (thanks Piccolo), and more endless questions to annoy Veggie.
Shadows of the Past: Chapter15
" What? " Trunks exclaimed, " I would've thought they would've waited to tell you that he destroyed it! "
" They told me that the planet was destroyed by a meteor. I knew he lied, but I let him and Napa and Radditz think I believed what they had told me. I knew that if I tried to believe that lie, I could pretend that it didn't matter, since it couldn't be changed. On Namek Dodoria was the first to admit that Frieza had lied about the asteroid. It was as good of an excuse to kill that bastard as I wanted. "
" Yeah, kill him that'll solve the problem. " Yamcha grunted, sarcasm dripping from the words contemptuously.
Piccolo looked emotionlessly at the scarred warrior that he had now considered his friend, and snorted in disdain. " Shut up Yamcha. " Had Yamcha not been drunk, he would've been able to deflect Piccolo's minor Ki attack, but in his present state, he never saw it coming, and was knocked soundly unconscious.
" What happened? Who did that? " Yamcha's wife asked worriedly, " It won't hurt him permanently, will it? "
" No, but it will shut him up for a while. "
" Thank you for not hurting him, I was just wondering when you were going to continue with the story, Vegeta. I guess I never really believed that you were an Alien until now. "
Vegeta snorted coldly. " The big green bean over there's an Alien too, incase you missed it somehow under the turban and cape. "
" Yeah, the green skin did sort of give him away though. But what happened to your tail? " Taylor asked innocently.
" Yajurobi cut it off, but that isn't part of the story Taylor. That happened on Earth before we went to Namek. " Bulma said trying not to say too much about it.
" Oh… I see, well, anyway… uh, where'd he go? "
Vegeta wasn't sitting within the circle anymore; he was standing under a tree, watching the night sky. Bra came over to stand next to him, and tilted her head curiously. " What'cha doin', Daddy? "
" Waiting for the morons to shut up. "
" Oh, what'cha lookin' at? "
" That bright star up there, the one you call Cirrus, see it? "
" Yeah, why are we looking at it? "
" That is the sun, on the planet that Shani was from. "
" Really? Can we go see her someday? " Bra asked, her blue eyes startlingly bright under the stars.
" She doesn't live there anymore. "
" W…well where does she live? "
" Shani's dead, and I… What are you crying for? "
" Because I don't want her to die in your story. "
" I thought you said you were old enough now to handle this stuff. " Vegeta laid a hand on her shoulder. " Keep your chin up, she didn't die when I was five. "
" She didn't? "
" No. "
" Ok, are we going to go sit back down now? "
" Whatever. " He growled, tossing her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.
Bulma smiled at her mate and her daughter as he put Bra down in a giggling heap. " What was all that about? "
" Nothing, woman. Are you ready to continue or not? "
" I think so. "
" So what happened after they told you Planet Vegeta was destroyed? " Trunks asked.
" I got in my ship and returned to the school. Of course they waited until I was done before telling me. Calderas was pretty far from the school, but at least Frieza was still gone when I got back. "
" What do you mean of course? " Bulma wondered out loud.
" Frieza wanted to make it clear that he was in control, I had no one left to fight, no one to kill with that news. So, rather than dwell on the obvious, that Frieza had lied and killed my father and my planet, I tried to tell myself that it didn't matter. Frieza was hoping I would get angry so that he would have an excuse to punish me, but I knew that he wouldn't kill me, so if I let him hurt me again, it would get worse. "
" Was he really so bad? I have a hard time accepting that anyone could be so cruel to a five year old. " Videl wondered out loud.
" By the time this story is finished then, you will change your mind. He deserved what he got. There are some evils that cannot change… "
" But you aren't one of them, Vegeta. If you were, you wouldn't be telling us this story. " Bulma said quickly. " I knew about Shani, from my dreams the night we bonded, but so much was left out… no wonder when you first came back to earth you were so suspicious of everyone. I'm sorry, Vegeta, I think even I misjudged you a little. "
" Shut up, woman. " Vegeta growled affectionately. " We aren't near done yet, unless anyone is getting tired or bored? "
" Sorry to disappoint you Vegeta, but you are telling this very well, " Gohan said eagerly. " I know I'm staying, Pan how about you? "
" Yeah, tell us about the little princess again, right Bra? " Pan commanded, looking very Saiyan under the stars.
" Yeah daddy, I wann'a hear more about Shani too! But, don't you have any pictures of her? "
Vegeta thought for a moment. " I don't know if it still works, but whoever has the Dragon Tear tell it to show her to you. "
Trunks slid off of the piece of driftwood he'd been sitting on. " Woah… since when does a five year old have a face like that? "
" Like what? " Goten crowded over to see too. " Woah is right… "
Vegeta snorted. " Tell it to show you her mother. Just don't drool on it. Not many creatures are as beautiful as elves. "
" Wow… can we like keep her? " Goten asked, staring over Trunks' shoulder at the softly glowing Dragon Tear.
" She's an Empress, it would require tact to get near her. Besides brat, she's dead now. We'll get to it, don't ask. "
" Is Blaze's image in there too? "
" Yes, oddly enough my father is in there too, and Shade and Midnight, Shani's two familiars, Blaze seemed to have created one set of images for us both. She added that power… right before she died. I found it by accident when I was 7… Now, that's enough with the questions for a while. "
It was late in the day, and classes were just ending as Vegeta was escorted back to the school. In Frieza's absence, the servants and guards tightened security around the school, but no one really seemed to take notice of it, especially Shani, who was as relentless in her explorations as she was with her music. Lithe and agile, she moved silently and effortlessly through the shadows cast by lines of marble columns and alcoves for statues. On this particular night, though, it was Zarbon who had the late rounds, and Shani had decided not to chance it. Bored and lonely, the elf sat in her room trying to get her next move in Tarchen figured out.
From her perch atop the vanity mirror, Blaze watched her charge knowingly. " He'll be back any minute Shani. "
" What makes you think I care? "
The tiny red dragon laughed quietly. " You haven't stopped pacing since class got out. You haven't eaten in days, you haven't slept in almost a week. If your mother saw you right now she'd put you in bed and cast a sleep spell on you right after she made you eat… "
The outer door next to hers slammed and Shani bounded over to the closet, which she had left open on purpose, much to Blaze's dismay. She pounced on him from behind, but just as suddenly found herself lying on the floor with obsidian eyes glaring down at her. She giggled and hugged him unrepentantly. He squirmed loose and let her get up, his tail flickering back and forth slowly. " What are you doing in here? "
" Saying hi to the biggest jerk in school. " Shani grinned. " Do you have any idea how much homework you missed? "
" I never do my homework when I'm here, why should I do it when I've been gone? "
" The higher you keep your grades, Frieza said the less homework you'll have to do. " Shani giggled. " I think he knew you'd say that. "
" Or he's planning on me being gone a lot. "
Shani looked a little more serious after that, but only long enough to remember the big holographic information unit that had been brought in for him the day he had left. " Look at this thing. What's it in here for? Isn't it one of those things they keep in the library? "
Vegeta dragged it over to his table and chair alcove and turned it so the keypad would face his favorite chair. "Yeah, but this one's Frieza's. "
" What's it doing in here? "
" He wants me to study all the crap in here and find the Eternal Star for him. " He growled, adjusting its power source and then bringing it on line.
" Wha… What's he know about the Eternal Star? "
" Almost everything but where it is. What do you know about it? "
" Just that it's the greatest treasure in known space. It disappeared about 100 years ago though, along with the warriors who guard it. They were my mother's allies, but they were long gone before I was born. "
" That's what Frieza told me… except that he said they are hiding the Star from his family. Since they disappeared, the Kold Empires have been unchallenged. I guess when you kill an immortal everyone else backs down. "
" What's Frieza want it for? The Eternal Star isn't evil. "
" I don't know. I guess he wants a matched set. He's already got the Scepter of Night. "
" What?!? That's impossible! "
" He showed it to me while we were having dinner one night. It was almost four feet long, made of blackened steel and ebony, topped a skull made out of obsidian, and it had these two ugly almost black garnets in the eye sockets and another one on the bottom end as big as my fists. Then there were these ugly symbols carved into it. I got blasted when I touched it, felt like one of my father's most powerful attacks. And of course the jerk just laughed, I guess he knew it would happen. "
" Of course it would hurt you to touch it. " Blaze said, landing lightly on Shani's shoulder.
" Why? "
" You aren't evil, or at least not anything like what you would have to be to use the Scepter. It can't corrupt someone who is already a little dark, but still possesses light too. "
" I've already told you, I'm not on one side or the other. I don't believe in good vs. evil. Life isn't that simple. Nothing is. "
" But the war on
both sides still believes in you, Vegeta, and you already know that. You're too
smart not to. But only when you are ready to admit it, will you find your true
power. " Blaze said, her green eyes very serious as she dipped her elegant head
and neck, then returned to her perch in the other room.
" What war? " Shani asked to no one in particular.
Vegeta almost said the war against Frieza, after all, he knew it was coming, he could feel the gathering, but distant storm with every fiber of his body. But something in Blaze's eyes had hinted at something bigger… much bigger.
Yeah, I know, I just love foreshadowing… it's sooooooo much fun… I can't wait to get into that a little more too…